Nashville bus rapid transit gets strong support in poll

Jul. 25, 2013

Written by

Duane W. Gang

The Tennessean

A new survey released Wednesday shows a majority of Nashville residents support Mayor Karl Deanís proposed bus rapid transit project.

The survey of 500 registered voters in Davidson County showed more than three-quarters of respondents supported the introduction of bus rapid transit in the city, according to a news release announcing the results.

The Global Strategy Group, a national public affairs firm, did the survey Feb. 20-25. It was funded with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, which aims to boost support for bus rapid transit in Nashville and three other cities. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

Nashvilleís BRT project, known as The Amp, would run 7.1 miles from the White Bridge Road area of West Nashville to Five Points in East Nashville. It is expected to cost about $175 million, and city officials hope to receive as much as $75 million in federal funding to help pay for its construction.

According to the poll, 77 percent of respondents support bus rapid transit, compared with 13 percent who oppose it.

But the poll showed many residents still did not know much about it. It found 61 percent had heard little or nothing about the mass transit system.

Bus rapid transit systems operate much like a streetcar or light-rail system, with dedicated stations, level boarding and service in short, regular intervals. The buses generally travel in dedicated lanes.

According to the poll, large majorities of respondents said those features were important benefits of bus rapid transit. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they would use BRT or other forms of mass transit if it made their commutes faster.

Ninety percent of the pollís respondents in Nashville use cars as their primary way of getting around the city, and 52 percent gave public transportation in the city poor marks. Thirty-eight percent said it was excellent or good.

The Amp has its critics. Some residents, particularly along West End Avenue, worry about the impact on traffic. Residents along Charlotte Avenue have pushed for BRT in their neighborhood, and North Nashville residents have criticized BRT for leaving them off the route.

The Rockefeller Foundation in April announced a $1.2 million grant to support bus rapid transit in Nashville, Pittsburgh, Boston and Chicago. The grant is part of the foundationís Transform Cities initiative aimed at helping communities improve their quality of life through mass transit.